Pilgrimage for Justice and Peace 2018

March 25, 2018 - March 30, 2018

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A six-day pilgrimage across eight North Carolina communities to Voice our Welcome to Immigrants and Refugees;To Stand in Solidarity with The Black Lives Matter Movement and the Sanctuary Movement in Support of All Undocumented People and To Restore the Dream Act (DACA).

Raleigh, N.C. – Witness for Peace Southeast will hold its 32th annual Pilgrimage for Justice and Peace during Holy Week, March 25-30. The pilgrimage begins in Asheville on Palm Sunday and makes its way across the state with stops in Morganton, Winston-Salem, Greensboro, Graham, Chapel Hill, Durham and Raleigh. See event schedule below for details.

The Pilgrimage offers an opportunity for participating walkers to demonstrate their solidarity with immigrants, refugees, African Americans, and the undocumented. “It is past time for the United States Government to cease and desist its ongoing persecution of immigrants and refugees who come to our borders in the hopes of making a better life for their families and their loved ones,” said Gail Phares of Witness for Peace Southeast. “The United States must offer a welcome to those who suffer from poverty and persecution in their home countries. We must also work to eliminate unjust U.S. economic policies that lead to exploitation and poverty throughout Latin America.”

The Pilgrimage for Justice and Peace coincides with Holy Week and concludes on Good Friday in Raleigh.

BACKGROUND: Thirty-two years ago, Witness for Peace (WFP) co-founder Gail Phares and others started a movement in solidarity with Latin America in response to U.S. involvement in Nicaragua’s Contra War. The organization brought groups of U.S. citizens to Nicaragua to bear witness to the atrocities of the war. Witness for Peace maintained the longest nonviolent presence in an active war zone in history. “We helped bring an end to US support for the war in Nicaragua and Guatemala and have helped reduce military aid to Colombia,” Phares said.

Today, WFP continues to call attention to the impact of U.S. policies in Latin America, and for the fair and equal treatment for undocumented immigrants in the United States.